A conservative filmmaker who’s questioned President Barack Obama’s U.S. citizenship and voiced support for Ugandan anti-homosexuality laws filed Thursday to run against N.C. Sen. Josh Stein of Raleigh.

Republican Jason Mitchell will appear on ballots under his nickname, Molotov Mitchell, in N.C. Senate District 16, which includes parts of West Raleigh, Cary and Morrisville. Stein, a Democrat, has held the seat for three terms and is also the Senate minority whip.

Mitchell made news nationally in 2010 when he posted a video in support of a Ugandan anti-homosexuality law that would have imposed the death penalty on violators. The video is now listed as “private” on YouTube, but a Huffington Post report included this quote from the film: “Like the great Dr. (Martin Luther) King told us, ‘the moral arm of the universe is long but it bends towards justice.’ Ugandans, stay on the right side of history.”

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Most of the videos cited in 2010 news reports have been pulled from YouTube or changed to the “private” setting. On his campaign Facebook page, Mitchell offers a more mainstream Republican message.

“Molotov Mitchell is a Ron Paul Republican and ... an award-winning filmmaker, combat instructor and a member of Mensa, the world’s oldest high IQ society,” the site says. “Mitchell represents the majority of North Carolinians who wish to keep their insurance, keep the government from listening in on their calls and want to keep more of their paycheck.”

Mitchell goes on to call Stein “the shrill Minority Whip” who has “stayed in power by running unopposed.”

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